2015 Board Members

PRESIDENT : PHILIP YAM

Philip Yam is the managing editor, online, for Scientific American, responsible for the overall digital content as it appears on the Web site and mobile devices, as well as other digital editorial products. He cut his journalism teeth as a reporter for the Cornell Daily Sun before taking on roles at Scientific American as a copy editor, features editor specializing in physics and then as news editor. A graduate of AAJA’s 2012 Executive Leadership Program, he is also the author of the 2003 book, The Pathological Protein: Mad Cow, Chronic Wasting, and Other Deadly Prion Diseases, which he should have named “Cannibalism’s Revenge,” but oh well. Follow him on Twitter @philipyam.

VICE PRESIDENT: SONA PATEL

Sona Patel has been an active AAJA member since 2006 and is ready to give back to an organization that has helped her in so many ways. She was president of the Seattle chapter from 2011 to 2012 before moving to New York to join The New York Times as a staff editor for social media in October 2012. As president of the Seattle chapter, she spearheaded efforts for the chapter’s annual Lunar New Year Banquet and Silent Auction and the chapter’s Northwest Journalists of Color Scholarship program. Follow her on Twitter: @sona.

TREASURER: CAROLYN SUN

Carolyn Sun is a news correspondent at the United Nations. She has a Masters degree in magazine journalism from New York University and has worked as an editor at the Asian American Writers Workshop and a media director for a transportation think tank. She has also freelanced for over ten years at various publications such as Newsweek, the Boston Globe, O., the New York Times blog, Westchester magazine and the Los Angeles Times. She is currently part of the American Copy Editing Society and AAWW, and in her spare time, she cooks and reads a range of food magazines, jogs and swims. Follow her on Twitter: @CarolynSSun.

SECRETARY: SACHI FUJIMORI

Sachi Fujimori is a features reporter with The (Bergen) Record newspaper/northjersey.com, where she currently writes about health, food, art, culture and the occasional New Jersey character. She began reporting in North Jersey in 2006 as the Religion reporter for The Herald News, covering the region’s diverse faith communities from the Catholics and Muslims to Bahais and Black churches. Originally from New York, she did a stint in the Bay Area, receiving a Master of Journalism from UC Berkeley in 2006. He work has been published in The Asahi Shimbun, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Oakland Tribune, The Charlotte Observer, The Providence Journal, The Online News Hour with Jim Lehrer and Food & Nutrition magazine. Follow her on Twitter: @sachifujimori.

NATIONAL GOVERNING BOARD MEMBER: BAO ONG

Bao Ong got his first taste of journalism working on the student project at the 2003 AAJA national convention in San Diego, Calif. He is now a freelance writer who often writes about food and travel. A regular contributor to The New York Times, he’s done everything from writing about cab drivers ripping off passengers to developing watermelon recipes for the Dining section. Originally from Minnesota, Bao worked at the St. Paul Pioneer Press for a few years before moving to New York to attend the French Culinary Institute. He also graduated from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. You can follow him on Twitter: @baohaus.

NATIONAL GOVERNING BOARD MEMBER: BROOKE CAMP

Brooke Camp joined NBCUniversal in 2012 as the Talent Acquisitions Leader for News and Digital. Her team oversees the recruitment efforts for the news group (NBC news, msnbc, CNBC and nbcnews.com), NBCU Digital (DailyCandy and Fandango) and the NBC O&O stations across the country. Brooke is the project leader for the NBCU talent acquisitions diversity committee and a board member of NBCU’s APA Affinity group. Prior to joining NBC, Brooke was the senior editorial recruiter for CNN at TBS Inc. since 2006 and has helped over 500 journalists find careers in our industry. Brooke currently serves on the AAJA Governing board and is the 2013 co-convention Chair for the AAJA National Convention in NYC. Follow her on Twitter: @BCeenByMe.

MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE CHAIR: SHIRLEY NG-LEW

Shirley was in college when I discovered AAJA in the yellow pages phone book. Honest. After an initial telephone call to ask, “What is AAJA? I became a member. I was studying broadcast journalism at the time. At the moment I’m not working in the industry, but hope to again someday. I’m focusing on being a multi-platform journalist and the writing opportunities through AAJA has taught me digital skills that I otherwise would not have learned on my own. I’ve been most active in the last five years of AAJA to make an impact for my chapter and to also build relationships with my fellow members. After all, it is about networking, networking and networking. That’s what they say at AAJA conventions! I have met so many incredible and talented people that I’ve learned from that I’m very happy to call them my friends.

SOCIAL MEDIA COMMITTEE CHAIR: HANNAH BAE

Hannah Bae is a social media coordinator at Newsday. Previously, she worked in the press office of the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, South Korea, where she lived for the past six years. She came to Seoul as a Princeton-in-Asia journalism fellow, then continued to cover Korea for media ranging from the Associated Press, CNN Travel and IDG Connect. Follow her adventures in NYC reverse-culture shock on Twitter at @hanbae.

WEBMASTER: EMILY TAN

Emily Tan is a freelance writer, photographer and web producer based in Jersey City, N.J. She covers all things women, pop culture, music and technology. She’s been published in the Seattle Times, AOL Music, Lemondop, CMJ, Spinner, PopEater, Crushable and the International News Safety Institute. Currently Emily contributes to various sites and publications in the U.S. and U.K. including TheBoomBox.com, Diffuser.fm, The Line of Best Fit, The 405 and Village Voice. Emily is usually on the hunt for the perfect cup of coffee, at a gig in Brooklyn or the Lower East Side or cycling around the city. Find her on emilyvtan.com and follow her @cessemi.

STUDENT REPRESENTATIVE: GRACE LEE

Grace Lee is a student at Columbia’s Graduate School of Journalism. She’s currently pursuing a Master of Science degree with a focus on broadcast and multimedia journalism. Before coming to New York, she was a Production Assistant at CTV News in Vancouver. So far in the JSchool she’s covered a range of topics from profiles on city council members to tenant problems in the West Bronx. She’s also the President of Columbia’s AAJA Chapter. Visit her obviously homemade website at graceehlee.com and follow her on Twitter: @graceehlee.